Haynes talks about vision for CSUSM

NORTH COUNTY -- Karen Haynes wears her passion for public higher
education in the same manner she wears her clothes -- vibrantly and
unabashedly.

It's in her voice, as she talks about how learning should be
available to anyone who wants it, the value she places on people,
and the importance of reaching out to the community.

On Friday, the day after she was named the third full-time
president of Cal State San Marcos, Haynes, 57, spoke at length
about her vision for the 14-year-old campus, her dedication to
partnerships and diversity, and her belief that an open door and
having fun are the keys to success.

It's no coincidence her favorite color is purple.

Haynes says she takes the presidency "very seriously" and the
first thing this accomplished author and educator says she will do
when she joins the campus on Feb. 1 bears out her convictions.

"I will have arranged to meet with several groups, like the
student association, the faculty senate," Haynes said Friday as she
prepared for a meeting of the American Association of State College
and Universities at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad. "I
would hope to meet with representatives of the alumni association
and several of the advisory council."

"I know how important it is to have the people at the table and
providing input, who will be carrying out or be impacted by
decisions," Haynes continued. "People have to buy in and believe in
things to be successful. I have a record of doing that, and
therefore moving a college forward. I spend more time up front, but
the payoff is more than worth it in productivity and good
will."

Haynes, whose salary hasn't been finalized yet, said she will
visit North County in December and again in January to look for a
house. President at the University of Houston-Victoria in Texas
since 1995, Haynes is replacing Alexander Gonzalez, who was making
$205,000 when he left in July for the top post at Cal State
Sacramento.

Haynes is leaving a 30-year-old institution with an enrollment
of 2,400 students to take the helm at Cal State San Marcos, which
enrolls about 7,800 students and just this year made the jump from
a commuter to a residential campus.

One of the campus' challenges, Haynes said, is to increase
housing and the kind of student population it serves while still
providing for "nontraditional" students.

The university is still forging an identity and image in North
County, she said. Even the alumni association, which she sees as an
important vehicle in helping create the university's identity, is
relatively new, with around 10,000 members.

She has taken the University of Houston-Victoria along a similar
growth path to that followed by CSUSM, and Victoria's demographics
are also similar. The city of 65,000 is near Houston, which has
about 2 million residents and the population in Victoria is 50
percent Latino, 40 percent white and 10 percent black.

Haynes said that she looks forward to tapping into her
experience as a social worker to help expand programming in health
and human services at Cal State San Marcos and that she is
"committed" to fund raising at the university.